Historical name sightings: twice the fun?

[Demoiselle]

Hi all! This is a (slightly delayed) follow-up to my previous thread; some of you were interested in seeing the twinsets, so here they are.

Obviously, twins were always much more common than higher order multiples, so this is going to be long. The time range is huge as well (from BCE all the way to the 1960’s) so if you’re curious about a particular pair, just ask! I usually record COB, DOB (if possible) as well as anecdoctes.

I’ve included famous and semi-famous/notable pairs (royalty, actors/actresses etc.) as well as random finds.

Twins, vintage style!

° Alexander Helios & Cleopatra Selene
° Ramon Berenguer & Berenguer Ramon
° James & Alexander
° Victoire & Jeanne
° Stephen & Ladislaus
° Henriette Adelaide & Catherine Beatrice
° Louise-Élisabeth & Henriette
° Amalie & Caroline (the latter went on to have two sets of twins herself, see below)
° Elisabeth Ludovika & Amalie Auguste (older twin daughters of Caroline)
° Sophie & Maria Anna “Marie” (younger twin daughters of Caroline)
° Henriette & Joséphine Marie
° Philipp & Wolfgang
° Christoph & Richard (younger brothers to the above pair)
° Maria Teresa & Maria Anna
° Elsa & Olga
° Gabriel & Michaela
° Maria Cristina & Maria Cristina Amelia (how confusing!)
° Hermine & Stephen
° Madeline & Marion (fun trivia: they played characters named “Coca” & “Cola” in a comedy film. )
° Rózsika & Janka, later anglicised to Rosie & Jenny
° Lee & Lyn (both female)
° Conrad & Bonar (mns: Stafford and Stewart, respectively)
° Marilyn & Rosalyn “Roz”
° William John “Billy” & Robert Joseph “Bobby”
° Mirtha & Silvia (birth names: Rosa María Juana and María Aurelia Paula, respectively)
° Edna & Alice
° Isa (f) & Jutta
° Winston & Weston
° Alice & Ellen
° Marian & Vivian
° Betty & Lenore
° Charlotte & Antoinette
° Eleanor & Jeanne
° Suzanne & Lucerne
° Kathlene & Helene
° Arlene & Ardelle
° Ella & Lila
° Ann & Jewel (f)
° Alice & Alva (f)
° Gloria & Consuelo
° Lois & Lucille
° Thelma & Velma
° Fay & Hilary (both female)
° Kathleene & Katherine
° Frances & Bernadette
° Molly & Nancy
° Oriel (f) & Chloe
° Janet & Patsy
° Brenda & Sheila
° Moses & Raphael
° Anton & Henri
° Jerome & Joel-Peter
° Julius & Philip
° Esther Pauline “Eppie” & Pauline Esther
° Agnes & Margaret
° (Alan) Ross & Norris
° Anthony & Peter
° Albert & Ebenezer
° June & Jennifer
° Ronald “Ronnie” & Reginald “Reggie”
° Kin & Gin (both female; literally “gold” and “silver” in Japanese)
° Auguste & Jean (the French, male kind of Jean )
° Cathleen & Colleen
° Dolores & Shirley
° Ella & Everett
° Lillian & Carl
° Maureen & Mavourneen
° Marsena & Marwood (both male)
° Amos & Avis
° Liberty & Independence (both male)
° Thelma & Doris
° Love & Unity (both female)
° Arthur Maximilian & Octavius Frederic
° Deidamia & Encorah
° Jere & Miah (let me quote the newspaper article: “There lived for many years in the village of Twerton, Bath, one named Miah. He was born a twin, and his parents thriftily divided the predestined name of Jeremiah between them, the other babe being christened Jere.”)
° Henry Septimus & Henrietta Octavia
° Finnetta Edith & Josephine Blanche
° Ivella & Ivetta
° Lillie & May
° Cora & Flora
° Jess & Nor (both female, probably nicknames but I wasn’t able to find their full names.)
° Tissy & Mary
° Achille & Dociel
° Erik & Enoch
° Joan & Greta
° Naomi & Leona
° Lawrence & Lester
° Emi & Yumi
° Mary & Geraldine
° Akiva (m) & Isaak
° Henryk & Tadeusz
° Herbert & Wilfred
° Marlin & Mike
° Lera & Lora
° Emma & Addie
° Miriam & Leopold
° Elias & Jeno
° Katalin & Susanne
° Helen & Pearl (f)
° Efraim & Laslo
° Frieda & Gisella
° Annetta & Stephanie
° Hermine & Piroska
° Elfriede & Margot

We sort of find ourselves back in matchy-land again with some of these, but a few rare/unique names definitely stand out, too. Just like last time, I would love to hear which pairs or individual names you enjoyed seeing!

And, if you just can’t get enough of twin names, I’ve got another list for you! You see, I’m pretty passionate about teratology (the study of abnormalities of physiological development. Weird, I know!) so I keep a few lists of various birth defect cases, including one for conjoined twins. It was originally more of a “quick facts” thingy, but this version omits all of the medical details, exact dates etc. to focus on names. I still kept the places of birth and some rough time ranges for clarity’s sake, though.

You can download it here:
Conjoined twins list - Nameberry version.pdf (141.0 KB)

Quite a few interesting names there too… if you can get past the copious amount of Mary(s) / Marie(s) / Maria(s), that is.

[lucy_halo1]

I love [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_f]Cleopatra[/name_f], [name_f]Marian[/name_f] and [name_f]Vivian[/name_f], [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] and [name_f]Leona[/name_f], and [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] and [name_m]Leopold[/name_m]!

[silverfiregirly]

Thank you! I was waiting for this, and it was definitely worth the wait! Favorites are: [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Helios[/name_m] and [name_f]Cleopatra[/name_f] [name_f]Selene[/name_f] (love this combo at first sight!!), [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] and [name_f]Jeanne[/name_f], [name_m]Kin[/name_m] and [name_f]Gin[/name_f] (the meaning are so cool), [name_f]Love[/name_f] and [name_f]Unity[/name_f], [name_f]Joan[/name_f] and [name_f]Greta[/name_f], [name_f]Helen[/name_f] and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f]. I also found it cool that [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] (from [name_f]Amalie[/name_f] and Caroline), had two sets of twins.
The PDF has so many cool gems too! There are a lot so I’m not listing my all my favorite here, but [name_f]Rosa[/name_f] and [name_f]Carmen[/name_f]!
Thanks for sharing!

[Nessie4]

Favourites:

[name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Helios[/name_m] and [name_f]Cleopatra[/name_f] [name_f]Selene[/name_f]
[name_f]Elsa[/name_f] and [name_f]Olga[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f] and [name_f]Ellen[/name_f]
[name_f]Betty[/name_f] and [name_f]Lenore[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f] & [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
[name_f]Dolores[/name_f] & [name_f]Shirley[/name_f]
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m] & [name_m]Octavius[/name_m] [name_m]Frederic[/name_m]
[name_m]Herbert[/name_m] & [name_m]Wilfred[/name_m]
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f] & [name_m]Leopold[/name_m]
[name_f]Frieda[/name_f] & [name_f]Gisella[/name_f]

[sammaegre]

[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite pairs are:

° [name_f]Henriette[/name_f] [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] & [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]
° [name_f]Betty[/name_f] & [name_f]Lenore[/name_f]
° [name_f]Frances[/name_f] & [name_f]Bernadette[/name_f]
° [name_f]Molly[/name_f] & [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]
° [name_f]Agnes[/name_f] & [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
° [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] & [name_m]Peter[/name_m]
° [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m] & [name_m]Octavius[/name_m] [name_m]Frederic[/name_m]
° [name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_m]Septimus[/name_m] & [name_f]Henrietta[/name_f] [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] (way matchier than I would ever do but the middles caught my eye, I’m assuming they were babies 7 and 8 in their family?)
° [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] & [name_f]Leona[/name_f]
° [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] & [name_m]Leopold[/name_m]

[findemaxa13]

I’m fascinated by the conjoined twins list, and how overwhelmingly female it is. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you know if conjoined twins are more likely to be female, or female conjoined twins are more likely to survive infancy?

This is really interesting, both from a name nerd perspective and from a historical perspective! Thank you for sharing.

[Demoiselle]

@silverfiregirly

Thank you! I was waiting for this, and it was definitely worth the wait! Favorites are: Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene (love this combo at first sight!!), Eleanor and Jeanne, Kin and Gin (the meaning are so cool), Love and Unity, Joan and Greta, Helen and Pearl. I also found it cool that Caroline (from Amalie and Caroline), had two sets of twins.
The PDF has so many cool gems too! There are a lot so I’m not listing my all my favorite here, but Rosa and Carmen!
Thanks for sharing!

Glad you liked this, and sorry for the long wait!

Alexander Helios & Cleopatra Selene seem very… I don’t know, Berry-like(?) in a way. And I absolutely love Helen & Pearl, Joan & Greta and Eleanor & Jeanne too!

@sammaegre

° Henry Septimus & Henrietta Octavia (way matchier than I would ever do but the middles caught my eye, I’m assuming they were babies 7 and 8 in their family?)

They were, haha. Number names were surprisingly common then, even in first place!

@findemaxa13

I’m fascinated by the conjoined twins list, and how overwhelmingly female it is. Do you know if conjoined twins are more likely to be female, or female conjoined twins are more likely to survive infancy?

You guessed right! About 70% of all conjoined twins are female. I think they are also slightly more likely to survive infancy, but don’t take my word for it.

[EdgeOfTheMeadow]

Thanks for sharing these! From the non-conjoined twins I am loving and intrigued by/wanting to look into more
[name_f]Oriel[/name_f] & [name_f]Chloe[/name_f]
These seem a a surprising choice because [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] had been so popular since the end of the 20th Century, but perhaps less so if they were born earlier, do you have a DOB for these?
[name_f]Janet[/name_f] & Patsy; [name_f]Dolores[/name_f] & Shirley; [name_f]Thelma[/name_f] & [name_f]Doris[/name_f] (such sweet vintage sets)
Marsena & Marwood
Marsena is new to me
Deidamia & Encorah
Finnetta [name_f]Edith[/name_f] & [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_f]Blanche[/name_f]

[Demoiselle]

@EdgeOfTheMeadow

Oriel & Chloe
These seem a a surprising choice because Chloe had been so popular since the end of the 20th Century, but perhaps less so if they were born earlier, do you have a DOB for these?

I do not have an exact DOB for these two, however, we can sort of deduce that they were born somewhere around the 1920’s-1930’s (they were featured in a 1950’s ad. ).